USA Gold Medalist Swimmer Ryan Murphy Marries His College Sweetheart in Lake Tahoe Wedding! (Exclusive)

Ryan Murphy tied the knot with his longtime love Bridget Konttinen on Sept. 30, with former USA Olympic teammates Chase Kalisz and Nathan Adrian in attendance!

Ryan Murphy is married!

The Olympic Gold Medalist, 28, said 'I do' to his college sweetheart, Bridget Konttinen, at the Everline Resort & Spa in Olympic Valley near Lake Tahoe, California, on Sept. 30.

"Bridget grew up skiing in that area and her dad is from Finland, so skiing was a big part of their life at a young age. There's a lot of sentimental value for her,"  Murphy tells PEOPLE. "I think it's honestly the most beautiful place I've been in the world, so it was a dream to get married there."

He continues: "Plus, I thought the idea of getting married in a place called Olympic Valley was pretty cool," he adds.

Murphy and Konttinen first met while they were both students at The University of California, Berkeley, where Murphy earned the PAC 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year award for three consecutive years.

In 2016, Murphy made his Olympic debut in Rio and won the men's 100m and 200m backstroke gold medals. Five years later at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he helped Team USA win the men's 4x100m medley relay gold with a new world record.

Murphy's wedding party included Olympic gold medalist Chase Kalisz, Nathan Adrian, who won the 400 medley relay with Murphy at the 2016 games, and Lenny Krayzelburg, "who's like my idol," he says. "Someone I really looked up to and who's been kind of a mentor to me in my career."

Many of Murphy's past swim coaches were also in attendance including Dave Durden, who was the head Olympic coach of the 2021 Olympic Games.

The bride, who's always wanted to get married in September, says that the duo's wedding theme was "chic, rustic and vintage." She worked with Emily Srok from Red Carpet Events & Design to plan the wedding, along with Monique Bianca Photography and Johnny B Films to make sure every moment was captured.

"It's an old world meets California modern," Konttinen says. "It's very neutral colors. Not really a splash of color anywhere. We used whites and a ton of greenery, and gold and wooden accents. Then a couple just fun unique touches, like gold disco balls over the dance floor."

She adds: "We have a couple surprise fun moments for our guests, plus an espresso martini tower, and a custom Cal bear shot skis for our alma mater."

The couple, who got engaged in May 2022, kicked off the weekend-long celebration with a ceremony rehearsal on hole 10 of The Links golf course. Later, they took a catamaran to Gar Woods Grill & Pier for the rehearsal dinner, before heading back to the resort to host a welcome event.

"I think that's going to be the part that I'm really looking forward to," Murphy said ahead of the wedding. "This wedding is going to be so many different people from different parts of our lives and people that have had a really big impact on us."

He continues: "It's going to be cool to see how just the random connections that people make and just the unique friendships that pop up out of it."

On Saturday, the 30-minute ceremony was officiated by Konttinen's pastor. The bride walked down the aisle with her father to the "Wedding March" by Felix Mendelssohn in the Sinead dress from Varca Bridal. Murphy rocked a custom white jacquard tuxedo by Baynes + Baker.

Konttinen's hair and makeup was done by Edin Carpenter Makeup Artistry.

"It’s the perfect mix of traditional elegance with a modern edge. It’s all over lace with a full 6’ train and long sleeves that extend over the hands, a deep V neckline and open keyhole back," Konttinen says of her dress.

She added: "The veil was custom made with a traditional French lace trim and blusher for extra drama."

Before the couple's big day, Konttinen was most excited for the ceremony. "I just love the tradition and spiritual connection around a marriage. I get choked up just thinking about it. We have two readers, which is traditional in a Catholic mass," she says.

"I think our faith has always been the hallmark of our relationship and also how we want to root our marriage and our future family," she adds. "Ryan grew up Catholic, and I grew up in a more congregational Christian Church, so we're kind of doing a little bit of a hybrid ceremony."

During the nuptials, the couple exchanged personal vows in front of 180 of their family and friends. The moment is one that Murphy and Konttinen have looked forward to for a long time.

"I feel like in a lot of ways, we've grown up together in our relationship," Murphy says. "We've been together for seven years now. And when I think about Bridget, there's so much to her and I think that's always been really appealing to me."

He adds: "She's so smart, she's athletic. I like her sense of humor, so we just had a really good time together, but we can also talk about the deeper stuff as well, and I think that's really important."

After the ceremony, the newlyweds hosted a cocktail hour where they served three signature cocktails: an aperol spritz, an old fashioned and a "Golden Bear" which is a tribute to the couple's favorite drink from a bar in Berkeley where they used to go to on game days.

During the reception, the couple introduced the bridesmaids and groomsmen in a special way.

Instead of entering in pairs, Murphy suggested that the wedding party come out in groups to choreographed dances. For the groomsmen's dance, they held up Murphy's brother and used him as a human limbo.

Later in the night, Murphy and Konttinen shared their first dance to "Anyone" by Justin Bieber.

"We kind of were like, no pun intended, fish out of water in that, because we never really formally danced together other than just getting down at a bar or something," Murphy says.

"I was pleasantly surprised that Ryan's actually a pretty good dancer, and so we're really excited to bring a show to our guests, not just kind of throw a little slow dancing together, but really kind of nail the entertainment for everyone," Konttinen adds.

For dinner, the couple served a plated meal of crab cakes, with filet, salmon or mushroom ravioli with a truffle sauce. Dessert included lemon meringue and red velvet cake decorated with pressed flowers by their florist.

To wrap up the weekend, the couple hosted a farewell brunch on Sunday, before heading off on a quick honeymoon.

"We're pushing off the longer dedicated honeymoon until after hopefully the 2024 Olympics if I make it," Murphy says. "So for this one, we're going to do a quick three days down in Cabo. It'll be nice to have a little bit of a reset after the wedding, let ourselves come down a little bit and just enjoy a nice tropical destination for a little bit."

Adds Konttinen: "Ryan just completely grounds me and calms me. I just love how much fun we have together. We can be going through a lot of serious stuff or big moments but at the end of the day, we'll always just find time to sit on a couch together and just be giggling kids and poke fun at each other."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.